Shattered Sunbeams
by Skylark Sky
Summary: Kurama peered down at the tiny human he had watched grow for 17 years. He saw the emptiness that was hidden behind her eyes, and decided that he didn't like it. So he would take her to a place she could find happiness. Time-travel fic, Fem Naruto, Eventual fem Naruto X Kakashi. Previously called "A Stuttering Flame"
1. Prologue

It was over. She had finally beaten the false goddess, but at the cost of all her dearest friends.

What good was victory when there was no one left to celebrate with?

If only she had been quicker in defeating her! Then the army of Zetsu's wouldn't have been able to destroy her precious people.

Sasuke, who had been battling alongside her, was lying on the ground about 20 meters away. Tears formed in her eyes as she recalled how his death at the hands of the mad rabbit goddess had pushed her to finally end the battle.

Limping her way over to the still-cooling body of her soul brother, she looked at the peaceful expression on his face. An expression she hadn't seen on his countenance in a very long time.

 _'Sasuke, I hope you are finally at peace, wherever you have gone.'_ She mourned over his body as fat tears began rolling down her face.

"Why? Why is it I'm the only one left?" She sobbed as she collapsed onto her knees. "Why did they all have to die?" She wailed to the sky, which was slowly morphing into dawn.

The sky gave no answer, and continued with it's eternal task as it watched the young womans' heart break with her loss.

 _ **"Kit..."**_ Kurama spoke for the first time since the end of the battle.

 _'Kurama...'_ The blonde paused in her weeping, tears still making their way down her face. _'At least you're still with me...'_

She entered her mindscape, the seal which had once tethered the fox to her, now wide open and useless. Approaching the now complete Kyuubi, she buried her face into his side as the overwhelming sadness threatened to consume her.

"What do we do now?" She mumbled as she turned her head to face her oldest companion, but newest friend.

Kurama peered down at the tiny human he had watched grow for 17 years. He saw the emptiness that was hidden behind her eyes, and decided that he didn't like it. She was always supposed to be vibrant, and full of life. Today was her birthday, and here she was... shattered.

 _ **"Sleep... Little kit... we can figure out things after you have had a good rest."**_ He urged her to close her eyes. She had been fighting non-stop for almost 2 days after all.

At Kurama's urging, Naruto felt the combined tiredness from her non-stop battle, and the exhaustion of her anguish, overwhelm her as her consciousness slowly faded away.

As Kurama watched her eyes close with a steady trickle of salty liquid still flowing from her tear ducts, he decided that he would make it better for her.

He wanted her to be happy. As the first human he had come to respect since his father, he felt he owed her that much.

If her happiness could no longer be found in this place, he would just have to take her where he knew she would be able to finally find happiness.

Or rather, where he knew she would be able to **MAKE** her own happiness...

* * *

So, yeah... I know I'm supposed to be working on 'Learning How to Breathe', but my computer is still broken, and I can't access my work, and getting the problem fixed is out of the question for a while.

So anyway, this has been stuck in my head for a while, and I've been typing it out on my phone for the past week or so...

This is the prologue, and chapter one is mostly done I think... it just doesn't want to end...

One positive reveiw, and chapter one will be out within the next few days I think...

Much Love! Skylark Sky


	2. Chapter 1

Konoha was silent.

It was the pre-dawn hours of October 10th, and many were already remembering those they lost in the disaster that had befallen the village exactly 12 years before.

In one certain tiny apartment, slept a blonde child who dreamt of the day to come, when her precious Jii-chan would take her out to dinner.

Outside the building, 5 different ANBU members had been assigned to the child's protective detail for the day. Normally it was only 2, but today was October 10th, and the villagers tended to get more aggressive towards the small child on this day.

As the sky minutely began to brighten, the girl's eyes suddenly shot open, and she rose from her pillow.

She turned her body, and slipped off her bed, leaving the sheets in a rumpled mess.

She walked out if her room in a daze, stopping only briefly at her front door to unlock it, and exit the place she called home.

The ANBU outside watched as the child they had expected to stay inside all day, made her way down the stairs of the building still in her nightgown, and without shoes.

HAWK, a newer recruit, used the standard ANBU hand signals to communicate with his superior, JACKAL, questioning what the squad was to do now.

JACKAL signed to his comrades to keep tailing the girl, and prevent any major altercations with civilians and ninja alike from happening.

As the 12-year-old made her way through the village, she did not utter a single sound. The only sound coming from her was the sound of her feet hitting the ground, the rustle of her pajamas, and the swish of her long blonde hair moving in time with her steps.

It was at this point that she had made her way to the main road of the village.

Here there were a few early risers, who were getting ready for the day, milling about.

As they watched the little blonde pass through, they sneered and glared at her with venomous eyes.

When their efforts to make the 'Demon Brat' uncomfortable failed, and their loudly whispered insults were ignored without so much as a twitch from the child, the people began to anger.

How dare she ignore them! Today of all days! The day that the Kyuubi had brought so much death and destruction!

Things came to a head when one brave villager, a fruit stand owner, approached the child from behind.

The hidden ANBU guards tensed slightly, preparing to interfere if necessary.

When the fruit seller placed his large hand on the child's shoulder, he immediately withdrew it whilst screaming out in pain.

Alarm ran through the minds of all whom were witnessing the scene.

For seeping from the area the man had placed his hand was wisps of red chakra, and the hand of the man in question was suffering from severe chakra burns.

The ANBU leapt into action, darting forward and surrounding the child and injured man.

MOUSE, the only one in the squad with more-than-basic medical ninjutsu, grabbed the man's hand and began an on-site diagnosis.

He turned to JACKAL, and reported that the man needed immediate medical attention. The chakra burns were traveling up his hand, and eating away at the flesh of his arm. It was as if the chakra was sentient and maliciously attacking the man's body.

JACKAL ordered SHEEP, the only woman on the squad, and the fastest of the bunch to take the man to the hospital.

Turning to DOG, the next in the chain of command in their squad, he said "DOG, you report this to the Hokage."

DOG nodded in the affirmative, and took off in a shunshin to the Hokage Tower.

The rest of the squad continued to follow the blonde, whom had continued walking without stopping, little trails of red chakra following in her wake.

* * *

When Hiruzen woke up that morning at 4 AM, he immediately got to work and went to war with his paperwork.

He was determined to finish all of his backlogged papers, and clear up his schedule so that he could freely spend time with the girl he saw as a granddaughter. Especially on her birthday.

He had been thwarted last year, by a sudden influx of paperwork, and had felt horrible for missing such an important day.

She was all alone in this world, having lost the parents who had both wanted her so dearly, only hours after her very birth.

He had been working diligently for over an hour on the piles of paperwork that seemed never ending, when he felt a chakra signature approaching his office fast.

The signature in question was flaring the chakra pattern for 'I bring an urgent report for the Hokage that must be addressed immediately, do not attack.'

This let the ANBU guards stationed in the building know that the person who approached was not a threat to their leader's life, and was to be let through without trouble.

Seconds later, the operative DOG was kneeling before him.

"Lord Hokage, I have an urgent report for you. It's about Naruto." The man before him said.

"Naruto? Has something happened to her?" The Hokage kept his personal feelings as wrapped up as possible but he truly loved that girl, and he could not help but deeply worry for her safety.

He knew the ANBU in front of him also cared greatly for the girl. Every year on her birthday, DOG requested to be put on the mission to guard Naruto. Hiruzen was vaguely sure this was due to fact that Naruto's father, Minato, had been DOG's mentor and Jonin sensei. He probably felt he owed it to his deceased teacher to watch over the child whenever he could. Occasionally Hiruzen would get reports from Naruto's ANBU guards that DOG was also watching over the child, despite being on rest between missions.

"Well sir, at approximately 5:30 this morning, Naruto left her apartment. She didn't even change out of her pajamas, nor did she put on her shoes. The unit assigned to guard her today followed her to the main road, where after some time, a civilian approached her and attempted to confront her. he placed a hand on her shoulder and was burned by the contact." DOG paused for a moment to let the first portion of his report sink in.

"Continue." Hiruzen said, mulling over the information. If what DOG was saying was true, things could get problematic due to gossiping witnesses. He would have to head off the spread of the rumors quickly, or he could have a riot on his hands.

"Operative SHEEP has taken the man to the hospital to be checked, but according to MOUSE, it doesn't look good." DOG continued, barely pausing for breath.

"Naruto is leaking chakra, and doesn't respond to anything. She just keeps walking." He finished, waiting for the inevitable line of questions he was about to be asked.

"Where is she going? And what do you mean, 'she's leaking chakra'? Is that what caused the burns on the civilian?" The Hokage questioned with no small amount of alarm.

"It's just as I said sir. Naruto leaked chakra as soon as the man touched her. She didn't even flinch, just kept going on her way to wherever she's headed." DOG communicated. "We suspect of course, that this has something to do with the thing sealed inside her. But I wonder, why now? It's been 12 years since the sealing, and there hasn't been a single incident till now. What could possibly be causing this abnormal behavior?" By the end of his report, DOG had begun to mutter his speculations to himself, under his breath.

Hiruzen was thinking. He had to act fast, and keep this matter contained as much as possible.

Quickly reaching a decision, he called forth the various ANBU stationed in the building with a rapid chakra pulse.

Within seconds, 7 ANBU members were in front of him, not including DOG.

"This is an S-class mission!" He said with authority. "The containment of information among the villagers, and the retrieval of Uzumaki Naruto, and delivery to myself." He nodded to DOG, signaling that the man was in charge of making the teams, and informing the others of what had happened.

"I will be at the hospital, checking on the civilian. Bring Naruto there, so she can be checked for possible injury." He finished.

* * *

Kakashi was a 26-year-old man, rife with emotional scars.

Sure his comrades thought he had healed over the years, but who could say he was well adjusted the way he was? Reading porn in broad daylight? Spending hours speaking to a stone, both rain and shine? Perpetual lateness? Ridiculously difficult final Genin tests for the teams he was forced to take? The mask?

No. Kakashi was in many ways, still broken.

He just made it less obvious than others.

There were those, like the Hokage, and Gai, who could see his brokenness, and attempted to heal his wounds, but there was only so much they could do for a man who refused to face his problems head on.

His main problem was the fact that he had no one to call family.

As he came from a long line of dog summoners, his family had more keenly developed senses and instincts. Not quite at the level of the Inuzuka though.

This included the instinct to have a pack. But after all his heartbreak, he just couldn't bear to let anyone in again. He couldn't take the chance that he would lose pack again. He knew if that happened, he might break for good.

He knew the closest he would get to having a pack again was if he actually passed one of the genin teams they foisted onto him.

Well, that and Naruto.

He just couldn't leave her alone. He was afraid to be hurt, yes. But he also felt that he had to keep his beloved mentors' legacy alive. To him, she was a pup he had to watch over from the shadows. But he refused to become attached, so he avoided actual contact.

As he rushed off with the ANBU from the Hokage Tower, he debriefed them on their missions. He sent 5 off to gather up witnesses, with an operative he knew was a Yamanaka to help with locating all who could spread the rumors.

The other 2 were following him, and they raced off in the direction Naruto had been heading when Kakashi had last seen her, following the scent trail she had left behind.

After 8 minutes of non-stop tracking, they had caught up with his original squad, near the gates of the village.

"DOG, what orders from the Hokage?" JACKAL questioned when he caught sight of his comrade.

"We are to return Naruto to the Hokage Tower, and await futher orders." Kakashi replied.

"We had best stop her here then." BEAR, one of the ANBU from the tower said. "It looks like wherever she's going is outside the village gates." He pointed to the girl who had nearly reached the giant doors that served as the village entrance and exit.

"I'd say close the gates to stop her, but this isn't an attack, and if the gates are closed, they can't be opened again for 24 hours. That would strand any shinobi out in the field, and also stop any trade from coming in." Kakashi said to his colleagues, his mind running a mile a minute trying to find a solution.

The squad was stumped. They would have just grabbed her, but touching her at this point was too dangerous.

"Do any of you know where Tenzo is? Perhaps we could use his Mokuton." Kakashi queried, hoping the wood-style user wasn't off on a mission right now.

As Naruto finally reached the threshold of the gate, she paused.

"Look, she's stopped. Maybe we can make contact now?" Said MOUSE, stepping towards the girl.

Naruto tensed, and so did all the ANBU.

Suddenly, she dashed off at her top speed, heading to the left outside the gates, leaping into the trees.

While her speed normally was barely enough to confound a Chuunin on a bad day, now she was going fast enough to escape a mid-jonin level shinobi.

However, ANBU were the best of the best, and the were easily able to follow after her.

As they followed after her, they began to feel a large chakra source located up ahead, in the direction she was headed, and it was coming up fast.

How had it gotten so close to the village without one of the regular patrols noticing? Furthermore, why was Naruto headed straight for it?

Kakashi pulled ahead of his comrades, getting within reaching distance to the closest thing he had to a pack member.

"DOG! Fall back some! Don't get so close to the target!" Called JACKAL from his position.

Kakashi nodded, and began to slow his pace reluctantly.

However, before he could reach the rest of the squad's position, a barrier formed between them.

"Ah!" Exclaimed Kakashi, stuck inside the barrier, separated from his teammates.

JACKAL hesitantly touched the barrier, getting shocked in the process. "DOG, you continue to follow the target. We'll report this to the Hokage, and attempt to find a way through. Don't lose her!" He ordered.

"Understood. I'm putting on a radio, channel 134." He said as he reached into his pack for the emergency communication device all ANBU carried.

JACKAL nodded in understanding, and the group dispersed.

Kakashi leapt off in Naruto's direction, using his top speed to catch up to the wayward girl.

* * *

It was times like these Hiruzen really felt his age.

After Kakashi had reported to him, he had immediately gone to the hospital to check on the status of the villager who had been affected by Naruto's chakra.

After getting a full report on his status from SHEEP, he had been approached by a medic, who had told him they might have to remove the man's arm.

"From what we can tell, the foreign chakra is eating away at his chakra network, decimating it as it goes. It has reached his elbow, but we've managed to hold it off by aggressively pushing chakra at it. However, we can't keep this up forever, and a decision must be made." The medic said gravely.

"Hmm..." Grumbled Hiruzen. "Would it be possible to stop the progress of the foreign chakra by putting the civilian into a medical coma? Perhaps with an inactive flow, the progression of the afflicton will be slowed down as well, buying us more time to find a solution." He speculated to the medic.

"That sounds plausible, we'll try that and see how it goes." The man said as he bowed in respect to the Hokage, then disappeared back into the operation room.

Hiruzen turned to SHEEP, who was still with him, and was about to order her to wait there for word from the squad that had been sent to retrieve Naruto when suddenly BEAR was in front of him, kneeling to show he wasn't a threat.

The hospital was equipped with seals all along the perimeter that prevented chakra fluctuations from being felt, so that none of the patients could be affected by a chakra flare meant for someone else. It also helped medics who were chakra sensitive from being distracted during delicate operations. Nothing but the biggest irregularities could be felt from inside the hospital.

BEAR looked up at his leader and began his report of the situation involving Naruto, ending with how DOG had been stuck on the other side of the barrier, with the target, promising to keep contact through the communication devices.

Thinking fast, he asked the question that was burning in his mind as soon as he heard what direction Naruto had been heading.

"Can you lead me there?" He asked as he began to pull off his ceremonial robes to free up his movement.

"Of course Lord Hokage." BEAR answered immediately with a nod of his head.

"SHEEP, you remain here and wait for a report from the team suppressing the rumor mill in town, as well as keeping an eye on the civilian in surgery. Send a shadow clone to relay any dire information." He ordered as he unsealed his helm from its' storage scroll, and situated it on his head.

"Of course Lord Hokage." SHEEP affirmed.

With that, the Hokage and BEAR took off, heading for outside the village.

* * *

Whelp, here be chapter 1.

Sort of...

I had hoped to keep going, but the chapter decided it wanted to end here.

So still kinda prologue-ish, and mostly world and character building here. More to come soon. Maybe next week? That's about how long it took me to write this out... we'll see.

After all, I am typing this on my phone, and posting from my phone. Which is a pain in the butt.

I have to manually check for errors, and use the editor to add line breaks and text modifications (such as bold, italics, and the like).

I have 2 court dates this month, and this is my way of distracting myself from all the stress of that.

Also, Lol. I made my Dog do a cameo as the OC BEAR. Haha. Bear (my dog, a Golden Retriever/ Saint Bernard mix, is my big fuzzy baby) may make more cameos in the future. Who knows? Maybe I'll make him a recurring character? LAMO.


	3. Chapter 2

Kakashi was nearing Naruto's location when suddenly an overwhelming chakra overcame him.

'What power!' He exclaimed in his mind. 'This huge chakra, could it be the Kyuubi?'

He felt out the chakra with what limited sensor ability he had.

'No this chakra doesn't feel the same as the one from 12 years ago... Another jinchuriki perhaps?' He speculated.

He pressed the talk button on his wireless radio, contacting his comrades outside the barrier.

"Captain, do you feel that?" He asked.

"Feel what exactly? All I feel is the same chakra from earlier." Came the reply.

"Then you don't feel how massive it's become?" He questioned worriedly.

"No. What's going on in there? Situation report." JACKAL said.

"I'm not sure. Suddenly I felt a huge burst of chakra coming from where Naruto has gone. I'm still following- wait! She's stopped! Coming into visual range soon. I'm establishing radio silence. I can't risk alerting any possible enemies." Kakashi said as he stopped just outside the clearing Naruto had finally halted at.

"Continue to observe, but be cautious. If at any point you deem the situation too dangerous, extract yourself and the target." Came the quick reply from the ANBU Captain.

'Easy for you to say, but if touching her still has the same effect as before, I'll likely be signing my own death sentence.' Thought Kakashi as he focused on one of the few people he would be willing to die for.

Making his presence as undetectable as possible, more than he had been already, as was standard ANBU Procedure, he peered out at Naruto from behind his DOG mask.

Naruto looked towards the sky and stared into the hues of the encroaching dawn that painted the sky an ocher color.

Just as dawn broke, the massive chakra Kakashi had been feeling finally localized in one spot, creating a small flame, that was slowly getting bigger, just above the clearing.

* * *

As the Hokage sped towards the location where Naruto was, he took some time to think.

Based on his and BEAR's current trajectory, there was only one place that held any significance in this direction, and that was the site where the Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto 12 years ago.

Leaping from branch to branch, he put on the wireless radio, turning the dial till he reached channel 134, coming onto the end of a conversation, as he came into view of an ANBU standing sentinel up ahead.

"Continue to observe, but be cautious. If at any point you deem the situation too dangerous, extract yourself and the target." Was the transmission he heard as he reached MOUSE's side.

"What's the current status of the mission?" He asked MOUSE as he reached the squad of his ANBU.

Quickly explaining Kakashi's latest report, the ANBU stationed in the clearing awaited the Hokage's orders.

"Spread out and surround the barrier as far as you can. MONKEY, your task is to return to ANBU headquarters and gather reinforcements. When you come back with the others, spread out and join the others in surrounding the area. We can't let anything slip past us." Hiruzen barked out, dispersing his soldiers with a wave of his arm.

Hiruzen took the moment of silence to contemplate the various events that had happened today.

'Somehow I feel like something big is about to happen.' He mused to himself as he stared grimly in the direction he knew Naruto had disappeared.

* * *

Kakashi stared, as the bright orange flames licked the air.

The flittering flames gave off an aura of warmth and security, something Kakashi had not felt in a very long time.

Temporarily mesmerized, he failed to notice as the flickering tendrils of warmth reached out towards the tiny form of Naruto.

He did, however, notice when the sunny blonde began to reach out to touch the wisps of orange.

Forgetting all sense of professionalism in his panic, he reached out for the child, his very soul crying out for her safety.

As Naruto's fingertips reached out to brush against the twisting orange flames, time seemed to slow down for Kakashi.

He watched in horror as the young girl stuck her hand right into the danger before her.

* * *

When Naruto went to bed on the night of October 9th, she did so with a smile on her face.

For even though tomorrow was the day all the villagers acted a lot more aggressive than usual, it was also the one day a year she got gifts.

Jiji would be coming to see her tomorrow, and with him, he'd bring her gifts. Last year she had not been able to celebrate with Jiji, but this year, he had PROMISED to be there for her.

Tomorrow was her 12th birthday. She was excited and nervous about it since this year was her the last year of the academy and she would be one step closer to her ultimate goal of becoming Hokage. She would take that hat from the old man one day, she just knew it!

In her dreams, Naruto was the strongest kunoichi ever, as well as the most awesome and coolest Hokage.

"Ultimate amazing super awesome mega Hokage Lady Naruto!" yelled a ninja as he entered her office.

"Yes, what is it?" Naruto asked from her desk in her orange Hokage robes.

"It's the princess! She's gone missing!" He said while panicking.

"Oh no! This is most terrible!" She said as she used her awesome ninja powers to find the princess.

"It was you! Evil Lord Duck Butt Sasuke! You stole the princess!" Naruto yelled as she entered the evil lair.

"Mwahahahahaha!" Sasuke said with an evil laugh. "That's right! It was I! The princess is mine!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Naruto yelled as she leaped with all her ninja might and beat Sasuke into the ground.

"Oh no! You have defeated me!" Sasuke lamented as he lay beaten on the ground.

"That's right! I'm the strongest!" Naruto gloated.

"I admit it, you are better than me. I surrender." Sasuke said as he handed over the princess.

Naruto tied up the villainous Sasuke and delivered the princess safely home, where the Daimyo decided to throw her a parade in her honor. Everyone in the village was there and cheering for her.

After the awesome parade old man Teuchi and his daughter Ayame cooked her an endless supply of ramen, which she graciously shared with Jiji.

As she was eating, the world around her grew dark, and Jiji, who was listening to the epic retelling of her adventures, vanished.

"Where did everybody go?" She said as a wall materialized in front of her.

Looking around, she seemed to be in a dimly lit hallway with shallow water all over the floor.

"What is this place?" She asked aloud to herself as she began to wander.

Suddenly a huge gust of wind came from behind her and hurried her forward.

"Waaaaaahhh!" She cried as she stumbled through the damp hall.

Whenever the path would branch in multiple directions, she was buffeted by gusts of wind that threatened to carry her away if she wandered down what she assumed was the wrong path. No matter how hard she fought against it, she would always end up back at the intersection she started at.

"Where am I going?" She asked the silent air after what seemed like hours.

There was no reply.

After a long period of even more eerie silence, the environment finally began to change.

The hall began to widen, and up ahead she could see a faint orange glow.

Naruto felt strangely subdued as she approached the glowing phenomenon. An odd feeling of warmth enveloped her from her belly as she slowly passed through a grand archway into a room containing the light source she was seeking.

There, about 3 meters above the ground was a floating orange flame.

With her attention completely riveted on the fire floating above her head, she failed to notice the giant metal gates behind it, or the giant red eye peering out from beyond them.


	4. Chapter 3

The great Kyuubi peered at the small blonde child from within his prison.

He sneered as she recklessly approached the **OBVIOUSLY DANGEROUS ITEM** in the middle of the seal room.

Since he didn't feel like dying today, he graciously forced his tails out through the bars towards the floating orb, intending to destroy it quickly, and rid them of whatever this threat was.

He suppressed all of his malice for the moment, forcing himself to remain calm so his energy would not leak outside his host's body and alert the sensors of the village.

Finally, the child noticed his tails approaching, and was startled out of her hyperfocus.

"Waaahh! What is that!" She cried as she took a tentative step back.

She watched as the several furry orange appendages surrounded the orange flame, and poised themselves to grab at it.

"No! Don't!" She cried as she reached forward. She didn't know why, but she just knew if that flame disappeared, something bad would happen.

However, it was too late. One of the appendages touched the small flame and was lit ablaze.

The flame traveled slowly and grew in strength. As they consumed the tail, the others began thrashing.

Naruto dodged the flailing tails as they began to burn as well. She didn't know what was happening and was just a little scared.

Whenever a tail was lit, it stopped its movement. When all but one had been taken, the last attempted to retreat, but the other 8 suddenly darted forward and grabbed it.

As the final tail burst into flames, a loud roar rang out in the room, and Naruto was forced to cover her ears.

"What was that?" She asked herself shakily.

She watched, enraptured as the tails filling the room slowly retreated further into the room, disappearing into a darkened area behind giant barred gates.

The original flame stayed where it had been all along, and flickered quietly.

She stared into the darkness with trepidation, unsure if she was in danger or not.

The darkness stared back, with gleaming red eyes.

* * *

Kurama opened his eyes.

Gone was the battlefield, devoid of life.

Gone was his Naruto, Her cheeks stained with tears of grief.

Gone was the overwhelming stench of death and decay.

Instead, he saw before him the bars of his old prison, and beyond them was the little girl Naruto whom he had detested and sneered at not so long ago.

He had done it, he had managed to make it to the past. Now, all he had to do was drag HIS Naruto back as well.

He watched as she cautiously approached his cell, her hesitance showing in every step.

"Hello? Who's there?" She asked with all the confidence she could manage to muster.

" **Naruto…"** He said with his booming voice.

"How do you know my name?" Naruto asked, her suspicion level rising rapidly. "Who are you, 'ttebayo!" Her verbal tic she had inherited from her mother surfaced due to the fear she was valiantly trying to hide.

" **Naruto, you need to be strong. Something terrible has happened. There isn't much time for explanations, so I'll just say this, and explain the rest later."** He paused for a moment to mull over how he should word this to her. " **The future is in danger. YOUR future is in danger. I have come back to this point in time to give you a chance to change things for the better."**

Naruto looked into the darkness, then looked back at the floating flame behind her. As she stared, she was filled with warmth, but beneath that warmth, she could now feel a slight tang of sadness.

She turned back to the giant caged eye.

"What do I have to do?" She asked with determination.

Kurama looked at her with all of his fondness.

That determined glint in her eye, the one that screamed to the world: 'I will never give up!' That was something he recognized from the Naruto who had earned his respect with her blood sweat, and tears.

" **This seal is what keeps me here. If you rip it off, I will be released."** He said but was quick to stop her before she tried to rip it off too quickly. " **However! Attempting to do so will activate the first failsafe. This failsafe is a fragment of the chakra of the one who sealed me here. It will not last long, but long enough for me to explain what is happening. If I can convince him, I will be able to save your future self. And the rest of the world as well, I hope."**

"So, all we gotta do is tear up this paper, and then save the world, 'ttebayo?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

" **That's just the first step, I'll explain the rest once we have begun."** He took a deep breath. This next part wasn't strictly necessary, but he knew this would bring the girl a bit of joy, as well as further convince her to go along with the plan. " **There is something you should know about the person who sealed me."** He began ominously.

"What? What is it?" Naruto asked, eager to get on with this and save the world.

" **The person who sealed me is also your father."** He revealed.

Naruto's breath caught in her throat.

Her father? Was she going to meet her father?

Tears began to well up from her eyes, but when she noticed the floating flame flicker once more, she remembered that they didn't have a whole lot of time.

Kurama could see she was as ready for this as she would ever be, so his tails reached out once more, and carefully raised her up to the paper seal on his gates.

Naruto reached for the seal, and soon after she got a grip on one of the corners, A hand came down and clasped her wrist.

She stared at it in fascination.

This was her father's hand. A hand she had imagined holding for years. It was pale, and the fingers long. There was staining around the cuticles. Ink, she supposed.

She lifted her head, peering towards his face, and gasped when she saw him.

"You are…" She said breathlessly.

* * *

After Minato Namikaze sealed a fragment of his chakra within his daughter, that fragment remained dormant until Naruto touched the physical manifestation of the seal. The moment she did, her memories flooded the fragment, and he awoke and appeared in the seal room.

Quickly doing what he was there to do, he grabbed his daughter's wrist and stopped her from releasing the Kyuubi entirely.

Naruto practically shook as she turned to face him.

As expected she recognized him right away. She had grown up looking up at his face her whole life after all.

"You are…" She said with shock and awe.

"Kyuubi! What is the meaning of this!?" He said as he turned to glare at the fox.

"Kyuubi?" Naruto gasped, and looked into the shadows of the cage, which had lifted with the revelation, revealing the Kyuubi's massive form to her.

She was understandably shocked. She had been taught that the Kyuubi was a mass of sentient chakra, filled with nothing but hate and malice. Yet, this creature before her had been kinder to her than any of the villagers had ever been, barring Iruka-sensei, Jiji, Teuchi, and Ayame.

" **First, You should greet your daughter, Yondaime."** He said with authority. " **She has waited 12 years to finally meet you. She deserves your attention."**

Kurama glared at the man, as he still held a slight grudge against him. He did not appreciate his forced imprisonment inside of infant Naruto, even if the event had begrudgingly brought him to the one his father had prophesied.

"As much as it pains me to admit this.." Minato began as he turned his face from the Kyuubi, "He's right."

His eyes softened as he looked down at his daughter.

"Naruto…" he said with love in his voice.

* * *

Naruto was having a mental crisis.

The Yondaime was her father?

The Kyuubi was INSIDE of her?

Her birthday was on the day of the Kyuubi attack?

The Kyuubi was SEALED INSIDE of her?

The Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi on her birthday?

The Kyuubi was SEALED INSIDE of her by the YONDAIME?

Her father defeated the Kyuubi?

 **THE KYUUBI WAS SEALED INSIDE OF HER BY HER FATHER ON THE DAY SHE WAS BORN?!**

She was freaking out.

She couldn't figure out what emotion to feel.

Anger? Sadness? Joy?

"Naruto…" She heard her name called by her father and came to a decision.

She lifted her head and looked at her father, tears streaming down her face.

Suddenly she moved as fast as she could towards him, ramming her head into his stomach.

The Fourth Hokage grunted as his daughter suddenly headbutted him in the stomach, having not expected that, he was unprepared.

He was also unprepared for the death grip around his abdomen that immediately followed, as his daughter sobbed into his Jounin vest, babbling her woes and joys.

"Mmpfhh...mnmnrnnnmffss…under-ssaff...Kyuu…mmmffsd…" He pets his daughter's blonde hair gently as she continued to mumble into his vest. "Auundd...den geii Kubni wd rlly nce tu gee…ncre dem arr vijers…dun undsnd…"

As her mumbling trailed on, he looked to the Kyuubi behind him, making sure it would not attack while his back was turned, and he was preoccupied. But all he saw was the creature staring at them calmly, if a little impatient, as one of its tails was tapping impatiently like a foot.

To see such a human expression coming from such an angry being, it surprised Minato.

The arms around his stomach tightened impossibly as Naruto's mumbles faded into silence.

Minato decided to give the Kyuubi a chance and focused all of his attention on his daughter.

"Naruto…" he said as she stiffened. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that… Just know that your mother and I loved you very much."

He tilted her head towards him as he looked into her eyes trying to convey all of his love with his gaze alone.

"I know we didn't get to spend much time with you, but we loved you with all our hearts." His eyes watered a little as he knelt down to give her a hug.

Naruto sniffled into his shoulder as she basked in his presence.

* * *

Kurama twitched impatiently as he looked at the father-daughter duo before him.

As much as he wanted to let them be together for as long as possible, he couldn't. He looked at the ball of his chakra floating and noticed a flicker of blue peeking through. Time was running out. His chakra wouldn't be able to prevent his naruto's from dispersing for much longer.

The technique he had used to come to the past had stripped both him and Naruto of their physical bodies. All that was left was their chakra. He used his massive reserves to protect her from being scattered and lost to the time stream.

Unlike him, she was not a being made of pure chakra. It could not survive long without a body to contain it.

So, as Minato and little Naruto exchanged pleasantries, he subtly and carefully manipulated his host's limbs to travel to where they needed to be.

When they reached the village gates, Minato finally took notice of his machinations.

"Kyuubi! What are you doing! Why have you moved us here!?" The blonde man shouted as he prepared to seal the chakra beast away.

" **There is no time for words anymore, Minato. Take this, and you will know all you need to."** Kurama manipulated a portion of his chakra to wrap around a small segment of Naruto's and guided it to the Yondaime's side. While doing this he was forced to cease his movement of Naruto's body.

"And Why should I trust you, my enemy?" Minato asked with suspicion.

" **Because the life of your daughter and everyone in the Elemental Nations is at stake if I fail here!"** Kurama snapped.

Shocked, Minato stared at the massive fox, as he slowly returned to manipulating his daughter's body.

Taking a chance on the truth he could sense behind the fox's words, he reached his hand into the orb of golden red chakra, touching the cool blue within.

When he did, his mind was instantaneously assaulted with 5 years worth of memories.

When it was over, he was frozen in horror.

"Dad?" a young voice said from his side.

He whipped his head towards the young version of his daughter, and his eyes widened.

" **Now do you understand Yondaime?"** The Kyuubi asked as he finally took control once more.

Minato nodded as he continued to stare at his daughter.

His daughter who would TAME the Kyuubi.

His daughter who would complete his Rasengan.

His daughter who would become a Sage.

His daughter who would befriend THE KYUUBI.

His daughter who was a reincarnation of Ashura.

His daughter who would befriend ALL THE TAILED BEASTS.

His daughter who would defeat a false god.

His daughter who would seal away a GODDESS.

HIS DAUGHTER, THE CHILD OF PROPHECY.

Suffice to say, he was mildly perturbed.

* * *

 _ **Holy shit! I'm on a fucking roll!**_

 _ **I honestly thought it would be at least 6 months before my next update. especially since I am STILL having terrible luck.**_

 _ **Since my last update about a month ago, I have had to put down my 17-year-old cat, Torre. And yes, that is spelled correctly. TORRE. NOT 'TORRIE' PET CREMATORIUM!**_

 _ **Anyway, Torre was my first cat, and I had her for 16 years. I loved her dearly. She was very affectionate and loved to sleep on my favorite pillows. She would howl loud enough to wake the whole house if we didn't feed her, her canned cat food on time, and sneak out the backdoor only at night, since her black fur camouflaged her (I put a bell on her after she went missing for an entire week 2 years ago. I thought she had died then, I was so worried.)**_

 _ **But she had acute kidney failure, and it would have been cruel to force her to stay when she was clearly ill (vomiting massive amounts and losing weight constantly) So we had to say goodbye. I miss her terribly.**_

 _ **I also had to see the doctor 4 times, since some bloodwork came back showing diminished liver function. In my family, we are hyper-aware of liver medical problems, since my dad died of liver cancer when I was 7. It may have been almost 2 decades ago, but we still fear it.**_

 _ **I am sick, but it's treatable, and hopefully curable with a bit of effort on my part.**_

 _ **But anyway, it occurs to me I never put my author's note in the previous chapter here on FF. Here it is so you can understand my horrible bad luck.**_

 _ **Hi? Don't kill me?**_

 _ **Yeah, so... There was a rush of bad luck that involved broken phones, car repairs, 2 broken computers, one heavily monitored computer, a change of college majors, animal deaths (my dog, Jake), job loss, loss of academic credits, and an entire YEAR of wasted college tuition on culinary school.**_

 _ **All not necessarily in that order.**_

 _ **Also, did that time in the psychiatric facility happen before or after my last post? I can't remember.**_


End file.
